Downloading a File
Every download is checked against your business first, then served by a link that lasts about a minute.
Navigate to: Files → Download on a row, or the Download button on a file's detail page
Both buttons do the same thing, and neither of them links straight to storage.
What happens when you press it
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Ask | The app asks the server for a download link. The button reads "Preparing". |
| 2. Check | The server confirms the file belongs to your business before resolving anything. Your browser never names the stored object. |
| 3. Issue | The server answers with a short-lived link and the original filename. |
| 4. Save | The browser saves the file under its original name. The row does not open, and you stay where you were. |
The link is short-lived on purpose
A download link is valid for about a minute — long enough for the click and the browser hand-off, short enough that a link copied out of a browser history is useless to whoever finds it. It is not a shareable URL: to give a colleague a file, give them access to the business, not the link.
The app never sends a storage path. It sends a file id, and the server decides whether that id is yours before it resolves where the bytes live. An id from another business is answered as not found, not as a refusal — the difference would itself be information.
When it does not work
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| "The file could not be downloaded. Please try again." | The link could not be issued. Shown on the page and as a toast; press Download again. |
| "File not found." | The file has been removed, or the id is not one of yours. |
| Nothing saved, no message | Check the browser's own download blocking — the save is started by the page. |
Related
- File detail — the page the button lives on
- The file list — downloading without opening a file
- Import history — downloading the original of an import